Hanoi (VNA) – With the vision by2030, APEC will have a strong and cohesive education community characterized byinclusive and quality education that supports sustainable economic growth,social wellbeing and employability of people in APEC economies. Pham Chi Cuong, Deputy Director General ofthe International Cooperation Department under Vietnam’s Ministry of Educationand Training, made the statement at a Workshop on Action Plan of APEC EducationStrategy which opened in Hanoi on May 11 afternoon. Cuong expressed his hope that the workshopwould provide a platform for APEC economies to discuss bilateral andmultilateral cooperation in education and training, and that many newinitiatives, projects and programmes would come out. The official also affirmed that this was achance of Vietnam to share experience in education and training with APECeconomies. For APEC economies, education is animportant driver in preparing a population with technical and soft skills to behighly productive and capable of facing the challenges posed by rapidlychanging regional and global economic environments. Lifting the participation since earlychildhood through higher education and lifelong learning, especially those fromdisadvantaged groups, will enable APEC’s citizens to adapt to the structural changesin member economies. The action plan will be developed by alleconomies and for all economies, aiming to achieve a common understanding ofthe role that education will play in economic growth and integration across theAPEC region. It will identify the objectives andtargets of education development by 2020 with a vision to 2030; synthesizelessons from previous APEC work on education; propose actions to take in eachpriority area; and recommend implementation levers, in particular, projects andinitiatives for the APEC Education Strategy. The action plan will also help betterlinks the APEC Education Strategy with education policies in specific APECeconomies through relevant domestic projects and initiatives. In her interview with Vietnam News Agency(VNA) correspondents, Wang Yan, Education Network Coordinator of the HumanResource Development Working Group, said the APEC Education Strategy was adopted at the 6thAPEC EducationMinisterial Meeting in Peru last year. The orientations for APEC education cooperationin the next four years are the main topic of discussion at today’sworkshop.  The main task right now is to translate visions and objectivesof the APEC Education Strategy into achievable targets andconcrete projects and progammes. Education research is the focus of APECeconomies now. Firstly, it focuses on aligning competency of individuals withsociety and second is accelerating innovation.  Education cooperationcontributes to economic growth in the APEC region, she noted. Education cooperation is the responsibility ofthe APEC Education Network, which now has the participation of all the 21member economies. Established in 1992, the network has two new initiatives,including granting innovation prizes to outstanding students, lecturers andresearchers in the APEC region.-VNA